How Smart People Mess Up a Job Search
July 7, 2009
Today, an aside about really smart people.
You'd think that especially smart people, you know, the ones who worry about being late for the Mensa meeting and stuff like that, would be really good at getting jobs, wouldn't you? If you do, you're wrong. Especially smart people are especially vulnerable to some amateur mistakes.
Specifically, some of the things smart people do to mess up their job search are:
• Not paying attention to basic marketing principles.
• Thinking of what you want more than what your market needs.
• Messing up the résumé. How do I mean messing up? I mean, not making it the way it needs to be to do the best job. A lot of really smart people don’t especially like marketing. And, yeah, it can seem pretty vile in some cases. But marketing is what makes America run. You don’t need a résumé, you need a marketing piece.
o That means, my friends, that you need to talk about benefits not features.
o Benefits are what you can do for the person who’s interviewing you.
• Messing up the interview. Yes indeed. How does a used car salesman sell cars? By asking questions and listening to the answers. Don’t tell them all about yourself, let them tell you all about themselves. When they mention a problem, mention a possible solution. (There are a lot of bad used car salesmen around; I'm talking about ones who succeed over time.)
• Possible? Being smart doesn't mean that you know anything. Be open to trying things.
• Messing up the follow-up. Always send a note or something!
Being smart confers a great advantage. Why not use it in being smart about how you look for work?
Steve
Tomorrow, the second P of job searching.
Yesterday I mentioned getting out and doing some of the free things available to Vegas locals. Here's a picture I took on Fremont Street over the weekend. Fremont
Street is fun to visit, and it's always free. You're on the Internet anyway, so try searching for "free stuff in Las Vegas" and see what you come up with! (For that matter, try that trick anywhere. I'll bet you'll be surprised!
Today, an aside about really smart people.
You'd think that especially smart people, you know, the ones who worry about being late for the Mensa meeting and stuff like that, would be really good at getting jobs, wouldn't you? If you do, you're wrong. Especially smart people are especially vulnerable to some amateur mistakes.
Specifically, some of the things smart people do to mess up their job search are:
• Not paying attention to basic marketing principles.
• Thinking of what you want more than what your market needs.
• Messing up the résumé. How do I mean messing up? I mean, not making it the way it needs to be to do the best job. A lot of really smart people don’t especially like marketing. And, yeah, it can seem pretty vile in some cases. But marketing is what makes America run. You don’t need a résumé, you need a marketing piece.
o That means, my friends, that you need to talk about benefits not features.
o Benefits are what you can do for the person who’s interviewing you.
• Messing up the interview. Yes indeed. How does a used car salesman sell cars? By asking questions and listening to the answers. Don’t tell them all about yourself, let them tell you all about themselves. When they mention a problem, mention a possible solution. (There are a lot of bad used car salesmen around; I'm talking about ones who succeed over time.)
• Possible? Being smart doesn't mean that you know anything. Be open to trying things.
• Messing up the follow-up. Always send a note or something!
Being smart confers a great advantage. Why not use it in being smart about how you look for work?
Steve
Tomorrow, the second P of job searching.
Yesterday I mentioned getting out and doing some of the free things available to Vegas locals. Here's a picture I took on Fremont Street over the weekend. Fremont
Street is fun to visit, and it's always free. You're on the Internet anyway, so try searching for "free stuff in Las Vegas" and see what you come up with! (For that matter, try that trick anywhere. I'll bet you'll be surprised!Labels: information
posted by Steve at
8:40 AM
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